My portuguese friend made this dish for the Christmas party a few years ago. I was quite surprised when I saw it, because the combination of pork and clams was so unusual for me, and I couldn’t really imagine what does it taste like (I thought maybe my friend just put everything what he has in the fridge…).

The taste was amazing. Pork and clams work very well together, rich and flavouful taste.

I’m a big fan of this dish since then.

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— Pork and Clams Alentejo Style (serves 4) —

700g pork loin

20-30 clams, scrubbed

1 onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons coriander leaves, chopped

3 potatoes

1 lemon

4 tablespoon olive oil

A pinch of salt and black pepper

Vegetable oil for deep-frying

*****

— for wine marinade —

200ml white wine

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon paprika

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

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Cut the pork into 1 inch cubes.

Mix all the marinade ingredient in a bowl, add the pork cubes and mix. Cover and let it marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours or over night.

Cut the potatoes into 1 inch cubes and deep fry until golden brown. Set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy pot, stir-fry the chopped onion and garlic over medium heat until tender. Add the clams, a pinch of salt and pepper. Cover the pot and cook until the clams open for about 5 minutes.

Drain the pork cubes (reserve the marinade). Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a fry-ng pan. Stir-fry the drained pork cubes over medium heat until golden brown. Add the reserved marinade, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

This is a mild and creamy coconut milk-based Vietnamese curry. The beautiful fragrance of lemongrass brings refreshing bright flavour and it’s very simple and quick to make. A great dish for a lazy summer night.

Divided the mixture into 2 and shape them into flattened rounds. Make shallow hollow in the centre of each.

Put some oil into a heated frying-pan, fry on both sides of the hamburgers over medium heat until golden brown and cooked. Transfer the hamburgers to a plate.

Discard the oil from the frying-pan, turn down the heat to low, add all the Teriyaki sauce ingredients and cook for about 2 minutes until the sauce being to bubble. Bring back the hamburgers into the frying-pan and toss well with the Teriyaki sauce.

Serve the burgers in toasted buns with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.

This dish is used an unusual technique of marinating meat. Marinate a duck breast in miso paste after it’s cooked.

Sounds a bit strange? But this is a quite popular duck appetizer in Japan.

Miso and honey give the cooked duck more flavour and to tenderize it at the same time. Marinate the cooked duck over night, and then you can just take it out of the fridge, slice and eat it like a ham next day.

The combination of the savoury miso flavoured duck and the sweet and sour mango is great, and I really enjoyed this new bruschetta.

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— Miso Duck and Mango Bruschetta —

1/8 Mango

40g rocket

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Some baguette

Some ground black pepper

*****

— for the miso marinated duck —

1 duck breast

100g miso paste

1 tablespoon honey

Some salt and pepper

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To make the miso marinated duck: Mix the miso paste and honey in a small bowl, set aside.

Season the duck breast with salt and pepper.

Heat a little oil in a flying-pan, place the duck breast skin-side down over medium heat and fry for 15-20 minutes until the skin became brown and crispy

Turn the duck breast and fry for 6 minutes until browned, then turn off the heat, cover with foil and leave the duck in the pan to rest (this will result in meat that is slightly pink in the middle)

Coat all side of the cooked duck with the miso mixture and cover with cling film, refrigerate for over night.

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Mix the olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a bowl, add the rocket and toss.

Peel and thinly slice the mango.

Lightly wipe off miso mixture from the marinated duck, and thinly slice.

Slice the baguette and toast them.

Topping the rocket salad, the sliced mango and the sliced duck. Sprinkle with some black pepper.